Chapter 33
The doorbell jangled. Gino walked into the shop. Stella’s heart leapt. Would she ever get over the thrill of seeing him again?
‘Buongiorno! May I help you, signore?’
‘Very professional. I like it.’ He leant across the counter and pressed his lips on hers. She closed her eyes, hoping that no one else would come through the door.
‘Mmm… How I’d like to carry you down the steps and ravish you in the basement.’
‘Stop it!’ She laughed. ‘What are you here for? More plumbing parts? Don’t tell me Leo’s shower still isn’t working?’
‘Why, do I smell?’ He frowned.
She inhaled deeply. ‘Only of shampoo and good things but maybe you washed in the sink.’ Her face flushed at the thought of him stripped to the waist, covered in a soapy lather. Honestly, Stella, you’re sixty in a few days. Pull yourself together!
‘Hmm. I’m pleased to say the plumbing’s all fine, as is the lighting, the cooker and everything else. It’s all ready for the feast I’m preparing for our very special visitor this evening.’
‘Aagh!’ She cringed. ‘I meant to call you about tonight but I’ve been so caught up chatting to Domenico.’
‘He must be a lot better then? That’s marvellous news. You never know, when someone has a fall at that age.’
‘He’s back home,’ Stella said.
‘Oh! Do you need somewhere to stay? Please don’t tell me you’re leaving.’
‘I’m not going anywhere for now. Luisa has asked me to keep an eye on him. She wants me to make sure he doesn’t try to get back behind the counter until he’s good and ready.’
‘So, he’s barred from his own shop. That’s a bit harsh.’
Stella shrugged. ‘I feel bad but it won’t be for long. But Gino, tonight’s going to be a problem. Domenico needs me in the shop during the day but in the evening I don’t want to leave him sitting alone at home.’
‘Then bring him along. Cooking for four instead of three won’t make a difference.’
‘Do you think he’ll come?’
‘I honestly don’t know,’ Gino said. ‘I’m sure we’re not his favourite people but he wasn’t one of the folk who objected when Leo got his commission for the memorial.’
‘I’ll ask him.’ Stella gave Gino a nod and turned to serve a woman who’d plonked a colander and kitchen timer shaped like a tomato onto the counter.
Gino waited until the customer was back out on the street. ‘I can’t wait to see you tonight, even though I’ll have to share you.’
‘What are you cooking?’
He smacked his hand against his forehead. ‘Honestly, I would have forgotten what I came in for if you hadn’t asked that. I’m not telling you, it’s a surprise.’
‘You mean you haven’t decided.’
He put on a mock hurt expression. ‘How can you say that? I’ve been up all night planning!
But I’m not going to do a good job if I don’t have a grater – one of those metal planes that you use on a block of parmigiano.
My son’s brilliant with his hands but that doesn’t extend to his cooking skills, judging by the state of his kitchen.
There’s a serious lack of decent utensils. ’
‘Third aisle, second shelf.’ She knew where just about everything was now. Except for that elusive kettle.
He laid the grater on the counter; she ran the purchase through the till, adding the item to her uncle’s ledger.
‘Maybe Domenico and I should bring one of those olivewood chopping boards with us tonight instead of a bottle of wine.’
‘That’s a great idea. My son’s wine rack is a lot better stocked than the rest of his kitchen.’ Gino laughed. ‘Look, why don’t you come over to mine for a bit once you’ve had lunch with Domenico and let me know what he says about tonight.’
She crossed her fingers under the counter. Their families’ feud had gone on far too long.
* * *
Stella put a lid on the pan. She left the rabbit bubbling gently. They wouldn’t be eating it tonight if Domenico could be persuaded to have dinner with Gino and Leo, but it would be twice as delicious if she cooked it now and heated it up another day.
‘Sit down, Stella, have the rest of your lunch,’ Domenico said, patting a chairback. ‘You’re making me dizzy. You’re up and down like a jack-in-a-box.’
Her uncle was right, she was a bundle of nerves.
If he didn’t agree to come to Leo’s house it would make pursuing her relationship with Gino so much more difficult.
She didn’t want there to be a bone of contention between herself and the old man.
She was fond of her uncle; she didn’t want to grow to resent him.
She sat down and began cutting up a peach. Despite her anxiety, she was hungry. The scent of wild thyme and garlic rising from the stove was sharpening her appetite.
Domenico patted Stella’s arm.
‘I don’t know what you’re worrying about but I expect there’s no need.’
‘It’s Gino.’
Domenico sucked in a breath. ‘I don’t suppose I need to ask if you mean Gino Perillo.’
‘I ran into him. He came into the shop.’
‘And you have been up to his old rustico together.’
‘How did you know that?’
‘Old Goffredo dropped in for a coffee whilst you were out. He heard it from his wife.’
Stella made a face. ‘That figures.’
Domenico reached out and pinched a piece of peach from her plate. ‘So, you see I already know. And I am not angry.’
‘But you’re not pleased.’
Domenico shrugged. ‘Don’t worry yourself about me.’
‘But I have to. Gino… well, he and Leo have invited us both to Leo’s house for dinner tonight.’
‘Oh.’
Stella waited for something more but her uncle merely helped himself to a bunch of cherries, sucking each one noisily and spitting out the stones.
Stella squirmed in her seat. She couldn’t see how she’d get Domenico to agree to their dinner date but he hadn’t actually said the word ‘no’ yet.
‘It would mean a lot to me if you came.’
Domenico sighed. ‘Is it that important to you?’
‘Of course it is. You’re family.’ Stella stood up and started to clear the plates away. ‘You don’t even have to like him all that much. I just want you to rub along.’
‘I suppose I’ll have to accept this invitation then.
And don’t worry, I will behave as I would when visiting anybody else.
Leo is doing a fine job on the memorial plaque, so I’m told, and I honestly don’t hold Gino or your joyride to Sanremo responsible for Arturo’s death any more.
Now, is that enough to stop you buzzing around like a mosquito and get you to relax? ’
‘But how do you feel about Gino’s family? About Fernanda?’
Domenico pressed his lips together. ‘That’s another matter.’
‘What happened here was a terrible tragedy but it was so long ago.’
‘Time doesn’t always heal.’ His face closed up.
‘But…’
Domenico raised a finger, silencing her.
The look in his eye told Stella there was no point saying anything else.
She finished tidying up, kissed her uncle goodbye, reminding him to switch off the gas when the rabbit was done, and half-walked, half-jogged to Leo’s house.
She didn’t want to waste a minute of the time she could share with Gino.
* * *
Stella jolted upright. She yanked the sheet up to her chin. ‘What was that bang?’
Gino laughed. ‘It’s only the hot water, a pipe heating up. I thought you might want a shower before you went back to the shop.’
Stella exhaled. ‘Thank goodness. I thought it might be Leo at the door.’
‘I told you he’ll be at his workshop all day; he won’t come back for lunch. But I am a bit jumpy myself. At my age it should be my son sneaking girls back to my house when I’m out, not the other way around!’
‘Girls?’ Stella teased.
‘You and only you.’ He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. ‘Mmm, you smell so good. I could stay here all afternoon but I suppose we had better get dressed.’
‘Some of us have to go to work.’ Stella padded across the room, surprised at how unselfconscious she felt.
She’d always wrapped her dressing gown firmly around her when she’d been with Joe.
She took a quick shower, careful not to wet her hair, and scrambled into her clothes.
She glanced in the mirror, her eyes were bright, her skin pink from the shower – or perhaps flushed from her lunchtime frolicking – but she’d done up all her buttons neatly.
With a slick of lipstick she’d look respectable enough to stand behind the shop counter.
‘I wish you didn’t have to go.’
‘Me too.’ It was wonderful to lie in Gino’s arms but her hasty departure from Domenico’s house nagged at her conscience. She should have spent the whole of the lunchbreak with him instead of rushing away to see her lover. Her uncle spent enough hours alone whilst she was running the shop.
She pecked Gino on the lips. ‘I’ll see you tonight, with Domenico.’
‘I’m so glad he’s agreed to come here. I hope he’ll like what I’m cooking.’
‘He assures me he eats anything.’ Whether her uncle liked the food was the least of her concerns. All she wanted was for him and Gino to get along.